At Journey's End, A Celebration
by SolStone
Summary: After their journey to restore Alchemy to Weyard, the adepts are invited to a gala, to celebrate life and love. Shippings are surprises.
1. The Invite

Ok. This is the product of me watching Harry Potter 4. I got this crazy idea, I wrote it, passed it along to my reader, edited it like, 4 times, and am finally read to put this here.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun.

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Sol's rays began peeking over the horizon as the little town of Melrose awoke from its slumber. Forges were lit and chimneys came alive as the people of the newly christened town of Melrose began another Friday morning. The people began trickling out of their homes, like water from a leaky pipe, and they went on their merry ways, singing as they walked to their work. Life was not as easy as it had once been; rebuilding the lives of a tragedy-stricken people turned out to be harder than merely relocating from one side of the mountains to the other.

The town of Melrose was being constructed just south of the Angara Cavern and to the northeast of the mining town of Loho. Melrose was founded only a few months ago, when the people formerly of Vale crossed the Angara Mountains to rebuild their town. After the destruction of Vale and the sinking of Sol Sanctum into the bowels of the earth, the people of Vale decided to start a new town. The elderly of Vale opted to live out the rest of their lives in Vault, since they could not make the journey through the mountains. After a long journey through a little-known mountain pass, they encountered the Great Western Sea. After seeing this sight they called the land home, and decided to build a new town, which was named Melrose. The land was geographically similar to Vale, as it was a hill country, which allowed the people to build the new city somewhat similar to the old Vale. The new town would have a town square and a building for the mayor at the entrance of the town. There would be an inn, shops, forges, and many residences and houses for the people. Construction of the new town would be hard, but the people would always endure.

The sun's rays toppled over the peaks of the mountains, where they met the cobblestone center of the town. By this time most of the men in Melrose had already eaten breakfast, and they were working on building houses. The women were attending to their daily duties, and the children were at the playground, where they were under the constant eye of a Jupiter adept. As the children played in the playground, Ivan sat perched upon the top of the Inn, looking down at the children, so as to watch over them. He sat at the edge of the roof with his legs dangling off the side. Whistling a tune to himself, he began whittling a piece of wood, thus beginning his next project.

Down by the river a group of women were gathering to do the daily laundry. They were laughing and talking about their new lives. One younger lady spoke up. "I love living here. I love being able to wake with the sunrise, work under a blue sky, and walk on the beach with my husband as the sun sets. I don't see how life could be any better than this." A few other women nodded, mainly the older women who could fondly remember the days of their youth.

"There's always work to be done here, and I like that. I don't like just sitting around all day, like what we did in Vale. There's always something being built or something that needs washing or someone who needs feeding." a middle aged woman said.

"I miss the afternoons when I could sit on my porch and watch my grandchildren play in the town square. Those were my fondest memories of Vale." an elderly woman said, who was merely sitting by the river, enjoying the summer sky.

Another woman added, "I'm just glad to see Isaac, Felix, Garet, and Jenna all return home. They were so brave, leaving the town to protect Weyard." The other ladies nodded in agreement.

"And the others are helpful as well." added another woman. "Take Mia for example: she's so kind and sweet; she cooks and cleans and watches the children. And she's a healer! She healed my husband's illness with a wave of her staff!"

"Mia is a sweet girl. I wonder if she has her eyes on any of the strapping young men." The older woman said.

A few women laughed. "I remember those days, trying to figure out who liked who, who had a crush on whom, and who was going to propose to who." the younger woman said.

"And Jenna too! She works with us as often as she helps the men with the building." a woman added.

"Jenna certainly has spunk. And I'm almost certain she'll wind up with either Isaac or Garet."

"Why do you say that?" asked the older woman.

"Well, her mother once told me that Jenna had a crush on Isaac, when they were kids. Though now I see her with Garet more often than I see her with Isaac."

The younger woman added, "And Sheba's also available. I wonder who she's trying to catch. It's hard to tell with her; you have to be a mind reader to get inside of her head!"

The old lady had a frown on her face. "Are you hens going to cluck all day, or are you going to do the laundry?" With that, the women fell back into silence, and only the chirping birds and the babbling brook remained speaking.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Elsewhere in the town, the men were working on a new set of houses. A newly completed house was awaiting a roof, to which came the roofing crew, which consisted of Felix, Piers, and Isaac. "Go on and climb up there Isaac, we'll pass up the supplies." Piers said.

With a nod Isaac set the ladder against the side of the house and ascended to the roof. Sitting on the corner spot, he called down to Piers, "Alright guys! I'm ready."

Felix took the first few lengths of wood and used Lift to hoist them up to Isaac, who caught them with Catch. Piers climbed the ladder as well, and he began hammering and nailing the wood planks into place. Isaac then followed behind Piers, setting the wheat straw on top of the beams to serve as the roof. It was a combined effort, with the job progressing smoothly.

"Hey guys!" Garet called from the next house over. "Hurry it up over there! I'm already done siding this one, and you're holding up the line."

"Shut up Garet!" yelled a disgruntled Felix. "If you're that bored then you can go and make me lunch." Garet didn't run off to the inn, so Felix resumed his work while Piers shook his head in silence.

The day proceeded on as it had done for the past few weeks, quickly, and with much labor. But on this night, the group of adepts converged in the family room of Isaac's parent's house. They all had bathed after the day of toil under Sol's relentless rays, and they were all cool and relaxed. Piers and Mia were sitting in rocking chairs across from the fireplace. Ivan and Sheba sat on stools that were brought in from the counter area in the kitchen. Garet was sprawled out on the floor in front of the fire, while Jenna sat in a chair by the open window. Isaac and Felix sat on a sofa across from the Jupiter adepts. Dora and Kyle had just said goodnight to them, and they waited until they heard the master bedroom door close before talking.

Sheba broke the silence. "Piers! You look so old sitting in a rocking chair like that! You remind me of Kraden, or some other old guy just sitting around." Jenna and Sheba subsequently broke out laughing, while Mia just smiled.

Piers looked offended, though he was not one to get unnecessarily angry. "What do you mean I did nothing all day? At least I did more than Garet! He hardly did anything today besides fall through roofs and splatter paint everywhere." Felix rolled his eyes while Isaac chuckled.

Piers sat back in his rocking chair while Garet wound himself up. "It's not my fault that I can side houses faster than you can roof them!"

"What about the paint Garet? You dropped a can of paint on the mayor!" Jenna said while grinning ear to ear.

"'You keep out of this Jenna. This is men business. You just stay with the other women and sew my shirts back together." Garet countered while running his fingers over the stitching of his tattered cotton shirt.

Jenna was clearly offended by this, as she works with the men just as often as she helps the women. "Isaac, you tell Garet what we did yesterday! Stand up for me. Tell them what we did yesterday."

Isaac was about to speak in Jenna's defense when Ivan spoke up. "Speaking of which, I didn't see either you or Isaac yesterday Jenna. What were you doing all day? Were you two working or sneaking off?" Ivan smirked while giving Sheba a high five. Felix just perked up, waiting to hear of her sister's love life.

"What about you Ivan, were you with the children all day?" asked Mia.

"Awww…" Garet cooed. "Widdle Ivan was taking care of the widdle kiddies." Mia giggled at Garet's childish voice, while Felix rolled his eyes.

"Felix! Is that all you're going to do tonight? Just sit there and roll your eyes at all of us?" asked a bubbly Sheba.

"I'm all for going to bed early." Felix answered nonchalantly. "Some of us did hard manual labor today. Some of us pulled back muscles today. Some of us are sore."

Sheba just smiled. "You big baby. You'll be fine." Sheba laughed at Felix, who just rolled his eyes and lay back against the back of the sofa.

"To answer your question, Jenna and I painted three houses yesterday. And one of them was your parent's home, Garet." Isaac stated simply, which earned him a nod from Felix and a grateful smile from Jenna.

"Isaac does a lot of things that he doesn't take credit for." stated Mia. "He helped me wash the dishes the other night." Isaac just nodded.

Sheba smiled and winked at Isaac. "Awww… that's so cute Mia! I wish Isaac spent some time alone with me. Isaac, maybe you could take me out on Sunday. How about that?"

Isaac smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't mind Sheba."

Sheba smiled devilishly. "Then it's a date!" She then sprung from her seat on the stool. "Well then, I'll have to go tell your parents that we're dating now huh?" With a wink she took off up the stairs.

Isaac sprang out of his seat and dashed up the stairs behind her. "They're in bed Sheba! Come back down!"

Mia and Garet laughed while Piers shook his head. "What we do for fun around here is pretty pathetic."

Jenna looked confused. "What just happened here? Did they just hook up? Seriously?"

Felix just looked at his sister and rolled his eyes. "It was just a joke. Come on. Sheba's always this rowdy."

"You're just jealous because you're no fun to be around." Jenna pouted. Felix rolled his eyes again.

"Felix is really cute when he rolls his eyes." Mia commented. "You think so Jenna?"

Jenna looked appalled. "Mia. He's my _brother_." Mia stopped herself from blushing and continued to knit.

Ivan looked up the stairs. "Should someone go up there and see what's keeping them?"

Garet chuckled while Ivan stood up to go. "Don't bother Ivan. They're probably having a private moment." Ivan sat back down, a tad disappointed.

Sheba and Isaac descended the flight of stairs. Isaac took his seat on the sofa and Sheba curled up next to him. "Well, someone doesn't want to rush the wedding." Sheba said. Isaac shook his head, smiling.

"Sheba, you're too young to be marrying anyway." Isaac stated, grinning.

"I guess so." Sheba answered sadly. "Well until then," Sheba perked up, "Jenna and Mia can fight over you."

Isaac was bewildered, and got up and moved over to the vacant stool to join Ivan, putting distance between him and the girls.

"What about the rest of us?" asked a dismayed Garet. "Isaac can't get all the girls!"

"He won't. Isaac's too modest to woo more than one." Piers stated.

"That begs the question, which?" Felix asked.

"Oh yes! Isaac, say that you'll wait for me!" Sheba asked as she ran over to him and took his hands in hers.

"Well," Isaac began, turning red. "I like-"

A knock at the front door stopped Isaac from continuing. He got up and answered the door, as master of the house while his parents slept. He opened it to see the mayor, who was holding a letter.

"Good evening mayor. What can I help you with?" Isaac asked politely.

"I just came to give you a letter Isaac. Well, it is actually addressed to all of you, but I knew that you all would be here on a Friday evening. A Tolbian soldier delivered it about ten minutes ago, but he rode off already. Something about a gala." The mayor bowed and walked away to his home. Isaac closed the door and walked back to his stool, where his friends were awaiting the public reading of the letter.

Isaac opened the envelope carefully, and took care not to rip the letter in the process. It was written on an expensive parchment, and was written gingerly with a delicate calligraphic script. "The mayor said that we are all invited to a gala in Tolbi in a few days." Isaac started, before Garet interrupted him.

"What exactly is a gala?" Garet asked loudly, looking somewhat bored. "It had better not be another social event in which we have to sit around and shake countless people's hands."

"Will you let him read the letter already?" growled Felix. Garet backed down and Felix motioned for Isaac to start reading. Isaac read the letter aloud:

_'Salutations, Sirs Garet and Felix of Vale, Lady Jenna of Vale, Sir Ivan of Contigo, Sir Piers formerly of Lemuria, Lady Mia of Imil, Lady Sheba of Lalivero, and our own Sir Isaac, Champion of the Colosso._

_You are hereby invited to attend a gala, held in your honor, a week from today. As you may know, this year's Colosso is being held next Saturday, and it is tradition for the previous year's Colosso Champion to knight the New Year's winner. I, Iodem, ruler of Tolbi, hereby invite you, my honored guests and friends, to attend a three-day celebration of life and leisure. _

_Next Friday, a week from the day you should receive this letter, will be the start of the festivities, with an opening parade and the opening night of the street vendors. _

_Saturday will be the day of the Colosso tournament, and though I do not think that this year's competition will be nearly as spectacular as when you competed Sir Isaac, everyone is brimming with excitment for the reappearance of last year's winner._

_Saturday night will be a formal ball, with only the invited guests and foreign dignitaries in attendance. We will have all sorts of entertainment, and I know that you all will enjoy yourselves._

_Sunday morning will be the farewell breakfast, as everyone will be departing for their own homes on Sunday._

_I know that you all are kept busy with the reconstruction of Vale, but I hope that I will be able to see all of you young people once again. _

_Respectfully yours, _

_Lord Iodem of Tolbi'_

The company sat in silence, contemplating the implications of said visit. Garet was the first to speak. "Well, it sounds like a party to me. And Isaac's a celebrity now huh? I wish I had entered Colosso."

After Garet finished and lay back down on the floor, Mia spoke up. "So are we going to go? Personally, I would love to get away for a few days and relax."

"Mia's right. When was the last time we actually took a day off? I'm so excited to go back to Tolbi! The last time we were there was when Saturos and Menardi brought us there, but we weren't able to see any of the sights." Jenna said, growing more excited by the minute.

"Please let us go Isaac! It would be so nice to have a vacation!" Sheba pleaded.

Felix rolled his eyes. "Let me get this straight: you want to go back to Tolbi, after you complained the entire time you were locked up there?"

Sheba shook her head. "Well, I just want to see the town. And it is a party after all." Turning to Isaac she said, "But if anything does go wrong, I've got my knight in shining armor to sweep me off my feet."

Isaac just sighed while Mia and Sheba laughed. Felix rolled his eyes, and was joined by his sister.

"So are we going to go?" Ivan asked anxiously.

"Why are you so eager to go Ivan?" Piers asked, who was wondering why Ivan was so eager to prepare for the event.

Ivan's cheeks tinged themselves pink suddenly. "Well, this event does have a ball, so we're going to need dates." At the mention of dates the other adepts turned a shade of red, knowing that Ivan was right. "I mean, this is a formal event, so I'm sure that it would be… proper to show up with a date, or as a couple."

The other adepts were silent, contemplating this new development. The same question burned in their minds. The question was, _'who will I go with?'_ Though, in reality, only six of them were thinking about it. Ivan had already decided on who he would ask, and Piers decided that he would sneak back into Lemuria to ask his old sweetheart.

"Who are you going to ask Ivan?" Piers asked, perfectly at ease.

Ivan's cheeks heated up. "I'm going to ask… a friend. I'm asking Feizhi." Having forced it out of himself, he breathed a sigh of relief and cast his gaze onto the other guys in the group. "How about you Piers?"

Piers chuckled. "I'm covered. I'm going to try and get back into Lemuria. I'm going to ask a girl I used to date."

The other six adepts were lost in their own little world, while Ivan and Piers discussed how they would ask their "unsuspecting target". Piers was all for the straightforward, old-fashioned way of asking a girl out, straight up and vis-a-vis. Ivan was concocting a scheme to ask Feizhi in a clever way, but he was fresh out of ideas.

Piers then stood up and walked to the door. Well, I'm going off to get some sleep. I want to leave for Lemuria early tomorrow, so I can have some time to sneak back in."

Felix stood up, eager to leave the tense air, and smiled. "Well, I wish you luck in your pursuits. Let's head home." With a simple wave Piers dismissed themselves, and they proceeded back to Piers' ship, where they were currently living out of, until Felix had a house built for himself.

Ivan got up and went to Isaac's room, as he shared a room with Isaac. The three girls got up, as if coordinated, and left together. Garet and Isaac were left in the room. Garet let out a fear-inspiring yawn that would have scared off Valukar. "Perhaps you had better get off to bed Garet." Garet nodded an affirmative, and sleepily headed off to his house. Isaac walked out onto his front porch, and watched the three girls head back to their room at the Inn, where they would, no doubt, talk about their potential options for the gala. Isaac shook his head and closed the door behind him as he entered his home. He proceeded to his bedroom, to find that Ivan was already fast asleep. He climbed into his bed, the bottom bunk of his bunk bed, wrapped his scarf around his bedpost, and tried to fall asleep, albeit unsuccessfully. Thoughts of a certain girl kept him awake until well past midnight, until his thoughts turned into sweet dreams…

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So, I still don't have the other pairings sawed out yet. But I'm at the point where I need to decide... the shippings are either going to be: [grouped by column]

Izzy vs. Vale

Flame vs. Steam

Soft. vs Sand

Reviews are nice and I thoroughly enjoy them! Please and thank you!


	2. The Saturday Before

Alright. I decided to continue this, despite NaNo.

So, enjoy! Jenna gets a date!

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun.

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Isaac, Felix, and Garet were all sitting around a small glade which was cleared of rocks, trees, and debris by the trio, to serve as training grounds. Felix swore that he could almost talk to the trees sometimes. Evidentially, they all had different temperaments and emotions, not to mention problems. Garet just rolled his eyes. He was a fire adept, and the only interesting thing that the trees could do to entertain him would be if they spontaneously burst into flames.

Currently, the trio of men sat around the circle and began meditating. Felix was absorbed in making the grass grow, inch by inch. Garet was just pondering the gala, and wondering what types of foreign cuisines would be there. Isaac sat, completely absorbed in thought, and meditated. They were all so absorbed in their own little worlds that they failed to sense Ivan running towards them, with a cheeky looking grin plastered on his face. "Hey guys!" he yelled, "I got my date!" The second line brought them all to attention.

Garet was the first to rise and congratulate his little buddy. "Atta' boy Ivan! How did you ask her?" Ivan's cheeks turned red, though he was still smiling. Isaac and Felix walked over to join them.

"Well, I arrived at sunup, and Master Feh remembered me. He told me where I could find her. She was at the top of a big mountain, meditating as you were. Anyway, we chatted for a couple hours, during which time I mentioned the gala, and then we lay back on the grass to look at the clouds. I asked her what she saw in the clouds. When she looked up, I used my psynergy to have the clouds spell out '_Will you go to the Gala with me?'_"

Felix noticed that there was a faint outline of lipstick on Ivan's cheek. "I take it she said yes." Felix said, while pointing to Ivan's mark. Garet and Isaac began laughing, while Ivan just blushed and nodded a 'yes'.

Then they all walked back to Vale together, deciding to all travel to Kalay to rent suits for the event.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The afternoon flew by quickly, even though the eight walkers were not working, per say. The seven walkers again gathered at Isaac's house, as was their custom. Mia was in her rocking chair, with Piers' seat vacant. Ivan and Sheba sat on the kitchen stools, munching on some cookies. Jenna and Felix sat on a sofa, whilst Garet was laying sprawled out of the floor. Isaac was tending to the fire.

"Anyone seen the old man?" Garet asked.

Isaac nodded, looking up from his work. "Yeah, I visited him today. He was working on some sort of experiment, so it was a brief visit."

"No Isaac, not _that_ old man, the older one!" Sheba replied with a grin.

"I haven't seen him since he left early this morning." Felix stated, taking a break from eating the oatmeal cookies.

"Well, I certainly hope that he wasn't arrested whilst he was sneaking into Lemuria." Mia added.

"He'll be back." Ivan countered. Isaac gave him the Cloak Ball, so he should have no problems."

"Unless she says no." Jenna said.

After a soft knock on the door, Piers walked through the door and crashed back down in 'his' rocking chair.

"Well, how did it go?" asked Jenna.

Piers sighed blissfully. "She said yes."

Sheba then spoke up. "Well, I can't wait to meet your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend." Piers said firmly.

"Whatever you say, old man." Sheba said back.

"Is she as old as you are?" Mia asked.

"I'm not old." Piers reinforced. "Felix, do you remember those children in Lemuria?"

Felix nodded. "My guess would be that they're around… ten."

Piers chuckled. "They, if not for the Draught of Lemuria, would be… about fifty."

"Fifty? Those two children?" Jenna asked, taken aback. Piers just nodded. "That's just so weird! They're older than we are!"

"Well what did you expect Miss Smarty-pants?" Garet asked, throwing a pillow at Jenna.

Jenna frowned and threw it back at Garet, but the pillow's trajectory veered off course and hit Isaac in the face. Isaac grabbed another pillow and threw it back at Garet. Then a pillow fight started, with everyone throwing pillows at everyone else.

Isaac, Sheba, and Felix were all hiding behind a sofa, taking refuge from the flying projectiles. Across the room, Ivan, Garet, Jenna, and Piers were all hiding together, while Mia just sat in her rocking chair and watched. Isaac peeked his head out from hiding, when a rain of pillows soared over the top of the sofa. Ducking back down, Isaac reached for a nearby pillow and began stockpiling them. Felix provided covering fire as Sheba scurried over to grab a few outlying pillows that had landed by the far window.

"Jenna, let's just light the pillows on fire and burn their sofa down!" Garet shouted.

"This is Isaac's parent's house, not a monster den! We can't just light stuff on fire!" Jenna shouted back.

"That's no fun! How are we supposed to defeat them?" Garet called.

"It's just a game Garet. No one's going to get hurt." Piers stated calmly, while hurling another pillow towards Felix's head.

"Hey guys, we're out of pillows." Ivan stated, pointing to the center of the room. In the middle of the room, there was a small pile of pillows that had gathered there. Garet and Jenna burst out of their cover, and ran to the center of the room to get the pillows. Then Isaac and Sheba popped out from behind the sofa and began pelting them with pillows, while Felix went around, through the kitchen, and hit Ivan and Piers.

After a fit of laughter and some complaining from the fuming fire adepts, the friends tidied up the room and sat back down.

"So, guys, who are you planning on asking to the gala?" Mia asked.

"Well, I will say that she's in this room." Isaac stated, with a grin.

"Same here." said Garet confidently.

"Tell us tell us!" cried Sheba in excitement.

Both Isaac and Garet looked thunderstruck. "But we can't tell you because she'll hear!" Garet cried in dismay.

"How about you Felix?" asked Piers.

"Isaac, you want to go duel?" Felix stated quickly, perhaps a bit too hastily, with his intent clear.

"Sure, let's go!" Isaac replied, running for the door, with Garet hot on his heels. Felix leapt out the window, and followed after the guys.

Silence then fell on the room, as did disappointment. "Well, there goes out entertainment for the evening." Ivan stated dryly.

The five adepts just sat around the fireplace, and remained absorbed in their own thoughts.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Jenna was walking home, thinking of the gala, which was on the mind of all of the adepts. She was wondering which of her two best male friends would be asking her. _Its either going to be Isaac or Garet, though personally I'd prefer-_

She was taken from her thoughts as she saw a man walking closer to her, from the other side of the square. "Hey Jenna!" he called. Jenna quickened her pace to a brisk walk, only to hear the man's footsteps match hers in speed. Her heartbeat was quickening, as scenarios of a strange man abducting her ran through her head. She looked to both sides of the street, looking for a place to hide. Luckily, Garet's house was only two blocks up the street. Jenna was about to break into a run, when she saw a small fireball form in his hand. "Jenna! It's me, Garet!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned and stopped, waiting for him to come closer.

"You walk pretty fast." Garet sighed, as he caught his breath.

Jenna smiled. "I just thought that you were some stranger, that's all."

"Well," started Garet, straightening himself up, "I am rather large and muscular, so it wouldn't be hard to mistake me for some brute or a pirate."

Jenna laughed. "Well, I'm not looking for a pirate, I'm looking for a knight in shining armor, and Demon Mail doesn't exactly shine."

Garet just smiled, as his Demon Mail was rather rusty and battle-worn, but it served him well. "Well, I can be your knight in shining armor." Garet said with a grin.

Jenna smirked. "Really now? I thought that you were a pirate."

Garet looked a tad put down. "Let me prove it to you."

"And how, pray tell, are you going to prove it to me?" asked Jenna quizzically.

"Well, I'll take you to the gala. That should prove how gentlemanly I am."

Jenna was taken aback, and blushed. "Are… are you asking me?"

"Yes. Yes I am asking you." Garet said softly. "Jenna, will you go to the gala with me?"

Jenna closed the space between them and hugged him, and it only took Garet a second to wrap his arms around her. "Of course, Sir Garet."

"Milady." Garet responded softly.

They withdrew from the other's warm but tender embrace, and began walking towards Jenna's house. "I thought that knights had gallant horses that they let ladies ride on when it is late outside and they are tired." Jenna teased.

Garet sighed. "I don't have a horse, sorry." He then scooped Jenna up in his arms, and carried her bridal style. "But, I can carry you."

A soft blush graced their faces as Garet carried Jenna to her home.

* * *

Hooray for Flameshipping!!

Reviews are nice! *hint hint*


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